Zohar on Tehillim 32 - The Steps of Salvation
Zohar on Tehillim 32 - The Steps of Salvation
Tehillim 32:7
- "Atah seter li mi-tzar titzreni - rannei falet tesoveveni selah" - (You are my shelter and protection from distress. Surround me with joyous songs of salvation, Selah.)
"Atah seter li" - You are my shelter. This refers to the Kadosh Baruch Hu, Who conceals and protects a person who follows the path of Torah. A person is saved beneath the shadow of His wings, so that no one can harm him. It may be asked: if it has already been said, "Atah seter li" - why does it continue with "mi-tzar titzreni" (protect me from my enemy)? Is this not the same as "Atah seter li"?
The answer is: above and below.
Above, a person has haters and enemies, and this is what is meant by: “Atah seter li". Below, there are also enemies - the yetzer hara - and therefore it says: "mi-tzar titzreni".
There is a tzar - an oppressor above, and there is a tzar - an oppressor below. What is meant by this? It descends and incites a person to sin, then ascends and brings accusations against him. If not for the yetzer hara, a person would have no haters in the world - but it exists, and therefore it is written: "mi-tzar titzreni" - conceal me from the hater and protect me from the oppressor. This refers to the yetzer hara.
What does above and below mean?
Each of us has our own form of concealment and our own personal yetzer hara, distinct from that of others, which develops throughout life. Each person's personal concealment consists of everything he sees and everything that prevents him from serving the Almighty day after day, every second.
But we all also have a global yetzer hara. If all personal forms of concealment are combined, the result is the global yetzer hara - the Angel of Death. Neither can function without the other: the individual depends on the collective, and the collective depends on the individual.
If my personal yetzer hara does not cooperate with this global force, it will not be able to confuse me. Conversely, the collective also requires the cooperation of the individual. This is why protection is needed above and below - from the general force of concealment that affects all of us, and from the personal force that acts only upon one person without affecting others.
The Psalm says: "Rannei falet tesoveveni selah!" Would it not be more precise to say: "yesoveveni selah"?
- "Yesoveveni" - this would have been said if the statement referred to "rannei falet" (songs of salvation).
- "Tesoveveni" - (You shall surround me) - is addressed to the Almighty.
Important!
If this sentence is read in reverse order (as the sages recommend in order to enhance the Psalm's effect), the meaning does not change:
- "Selah tesoveveni" - (Shechinah, surround me); "Palet rannei" - (save me, and let the song deliver me);
- "Titzreni li seter Atah" - (You will save me from trouble, O Savior; You conceal me).
Why did he address the Kadosh Baruch Hu with the words "You shall surround me?"
The reason is that these songs contain levels sufficient for salvation. This song contains two types of Light (the Light of Chesed - which shines from above downward, and the Light of Chochmah - which shines from below upward). This is the secret of why this verse can be read both from beginning to end and from end to beginning.
(Zohar on Vayishlach, Sulam, Tzvi Nisanzon)
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Tags: Zohar on Tehillim, Zohar on Tehillim 32 – The Stages of Salvation, Psalm 32, Tehillim 32
